Ron's Troubles
by sPoiLeD mE
Summary: In Ron's POV. Ron likes Hermione. Hermione and Harry are in love, and are totally clueless to their friend's feelings. Ron suffers alone, getting angry at the two constantly. As if Ron's problems couldn't get any worse.. Lavender and Parvati think he
1. Dealing with feelings

Ron Weasley poked and prodded the picture in front of him. He muttered incantations under his breath, jabbing at the wizard picture with his wand. His goal was to make the picture burst into flames, but yet, so far, that wasn't happening.  
  
In his furious stupor, it had not registered in Ron's mind that he could simply toss the picture into the roaring fire behind him. Ron frowned at the picture, the picture forms of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger smiling up at Ron, their arms around each other.  
  
" C'mon, you damn picture!" Ron cried out in anger. Luckily it was 11 o'clock at night, and the Gryffindor common room had cleared for the night. He had been sitting in his usual armchair by the fire for over an hour, and the only progress he had made were the slightly smoldering corners of the picture. He was all alone, and had no clue where his two best friends had gone. Probably off somewhere, snogging, Ron told himself angrily.  
  
The common room door opened, and Ron could hear the voice of Hermione, yet he could not see her.  
  
" Harry!" Hermione squealed, giggling profusely. " Stop that!"  
  
Ron looked up in a panic, as his two best friends appeared, as if out of nowhere, before him. Harry's Invisibility Cloak lay in a heap at their feet. Paling quickly, Ron tossed his wand behind his back, but before he could shove aside the picture, Harry had stepped forward and snatched it out of his hands.  
  
" Hey Ron.. " Harry said, cheerfully. " What have you got there?" he asked curiously, looking down at the picture, his nose wrinkling in confusion.  
  
Hermione stepped up behind him, and rested her chin on his shoulder. It was a difficult feat, considering Harry was a good five inches taller than her, but she managed as she stood on tiptoe.  
  
Ron gulped. " It's . uh . well ." His heart beat rapidly inside his chest. Trying to ignore his friends' raised eyebrows as their eyes fell on the burnt corners, Ron tried to think of some excuse that would get him out of this mess. He certainly didn't want his two best friends finding out that he was sitting here, trying to ruin a picture of the two of them.  
  
" I was trying to fix it up," Ron replied, the words spilling out in a rush. He glanced up at Harry and Hermione, who was now standing next to Harry. Slowly, Ron pulled his wand out from behind his back. " I - it.. was all burnt.. as you can see.." he muttered, nodding towards the charred edges. " I was just trying to fix it.. considering it's such a lovely picture and all. wanted it to be a surprise.." Ron let his voice trail off, knowing that his friends would not buy it at all. They weren't that gullible. Ron glanced down at the table.  
  
" Oh. Alright then," Harry said, setting the picture back down. " That was nice of you."  
  
" Awfully nice, Ron," Hermione added, bending down and giving Ron a peck on the cheek, causing Ron's cheeks to flame wildly.  
  
Ron glanced up at his friends in surprise. Blimey, they are gullible!, he thought to himself. Sighing in relief, Ron leaned back in his chair as Harry and Hermione took seats across from him. Ron tried not to notice as the two intertwined their fingers together, or how they stared lovingly into each other's eyes.  
  
He clenched his fists in anger, forcing himself not to grab the picture still left on the table and rip it into shreds right then and there. Or better yet .. rip the picture of Harry into shreds right then and there. He needn't bother with Hermione's picture, it was too pretty anyway. All he wanted to do was take away Harry, and put himself in his place, because the truth of the matter was, he was in love with Hermione. Or rather, really, really liked her. Ron wasn't too sure what love was, anyhow.  
  
But no. Hermione loved Harry and Harry loved Hermione. It just wasn't fair. And Ron was sure that if he had just told Harry his feelings for Hermione in the beginning, when Harry had confessed his crush on Hermione, Harry would have stepped aside. But no, it was too late. His two best friends were madly in love with each other, and it was killing Ron inside, but he didn't have the heart to say anything about it.  
  
Over shadowed again, Ron told himself bitterly. Perfect Potter, he couldn't help adding, with jealousy.  
  
Hermione let out a loud yawn that brought Ron back to reality. She had stood and was now looking down at Ron with a sleepy smile on her face. Ron smiled back. She leaned over towards him, so close he could feel her hot breath on his face. Ron could feel his heart skip a beat. He licked his dry lips nervously, waiting . waiting ... but what Ron was hoping for never happened. Instead, Hermione had grabbed his wrist and glanced down at his watch, then straightened abruptly.  
  
" Quarter to twelve already!" Hermione exclaimed. She yawned again.  
  
" No wonder I'm so tired! Thank goodness it's a Friday. I'm going up to bed now." She turned around, facing Harry, who had stood. " Good night," she whispered, then kissed him squarely on the lips.  
  
" Night, 'Mione," Harry replied in a low voice.  
  
Hermione turned to Ron. " Night Ron," she said cheerfully.  
  
" Good night Hermione," he replied, wishing she would give him a kiss as well. But instead, Hermione turned and headed up the stairs towards the girls' dormitories.  
  
Ron glanced over at Harry, who was rubbing his tired eyes behind his glasses. He noticed Ron looking at him, and grinned. " This Invisibility Cloak comes in handy, you know?" he said with a knowing wink.  
  
" Yeah," Ron said, forcing out a laugh. " Wish I had one of those," he added as he stood up, following Harry up the stairs to the fifth year boys' dormitory.  
  
Harry chuckled, shouldering the Invisibility Cloak and causing the left side of his torso to disappear. It was a rather unnerving sight. " You know you can use it whenever you feel like it, Ron," he said.  
  
" Oh gee, thanks," Ron replied sarcastically as the two reached the door to their dorm. Harry turned to look at his friend, studying him quizzically. " Something the matter?"  
  
" No," Ron muttered, ducking his head.  
  
Harry didn't reply, only opened the door and stepped inside the room. Sounds of their room mates snoring filled their ears.  
  
Ron headed straight for his bed, changed quickly into his pajamas, and crawled underneath the covers, drawing the hangings tight, blocking him from the rest of the room.  
  
" Good night Ron," Harry's voice whispered from the opposite end of the room.  
  
Ron didn't reply. He closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. He had to stop this. It wasn't right for him to be so cold to Harry. After all, it wasn't Harry's fault that Ron had a crush on his girlfriend. It's not like he even knew, anyway.  
  
" You don't like her. You don't like her. You don't like her.." Ron  
  
whispered to himself, saying the phrase over and over again until he drifted into a restless sleep. * * * 


	2. Angry in the morning

The warm rays of sunshine on Ron's face stirred him awake Saturday morning. His eyes fluttered opened, and he stared up at the dark velvet canopy above his bed. His eyes strained to hear if any of his friends were up yet. No sound met his ears. Sitting up in bed, Ron tore apart his hangings to find the dorm completely empty.  
  
Stifling a yawn, Ron stumbled out of his bed. He dressed, and headed downstairs, wondering exactly how late it was. He had left his watch upstairs on his bed, and was too lazy to turn around and go get it. As he entered the common room, which was bustling with sleepy-eyed students, Ron looked around for Harry and Hermione. He spotted them sitting in their usual arm chairs, talking to each other quietly.  
  
Ron smiled to himself. He was going to go over and scold Harry for not waking him up, but all thoughts left his mind once he realized that he had spotted them sitting in the common room, obviously waiting for him, instead of the Great Hall, which meant they had gone down to breakfast without him. As he headed over there, Ron watched as Harry leaned over to give Hermione a quick peck on the lips. She smiled at him.  
  
Anger surged through Ron. Something he had never felt before. It was raging jealousy. He stomped over there, his eyes narrowed angrily.  
  
Harry and Hermione looked up, startled. Hermione smiled cheerfully at him. Ron ignored her. Harry gave his friend a cautious half smile, studying the expression on Ron's face.  
  
" M - morning, Ron," Harry stammered. " I was just going to come wake you. You seemed so tired yesterday, I didn't want to wake you up any earlier than I should."  
  
" Oh really?" Ron snapped. " Well, no bother, I'm up already."  
  
" Sleep well?" Hermione asked sweetly.  
  
" Splendidly," Ron spat. He ignored the smile that faded from Hermione's lips. " Shall we go down to breakfast? Or . let me guess .," Ron continued, noticing his two friends exchange uncomfortable glances. " You went down to breakfast without me."  
  
Harry nodded slowly. He opened his mouth to respond, but Hermione interrupted him. " We were awfully hungry, Ron," she explained. " But we'll gladly go down to the Great Hall with you."  
  
Ron felt the heat rise up in his face. He clenched his fists in anger. A tiny voice in the back of his head was telling him that there was no need to get so mad. He did sleep late, and it wasn't their fault if they were hungry. Ron's shoulders relaxed. He took a deep breath, and opened his mouth to apologize for being so mean. But then Hermione stood up and settled herself down on Harry's lap. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, and the two continued to look up at him.  
  
Ron closed his eyes momentarily. He couldn't stand looking at them, so god damn happy together. It killed him. Ron felt the anger surge through him again. He turned sharply, and headed for the common room door. As he pushed through it, he called over his shoulder," Don't bother," then disappeared.  
  
* * *  
  
Harry watched as the common room door banged shut after Ron. He sighed. After a couple minutes, Hermione got up from his lap and sat down across from him. Harry turned his head to look at his girlfriend. She smiled at him.  
  
" What's wrong?" she asked quietly.  
  
Harry cocked his head in the direction of the door. " Ron," he replied. " Do you think he's mad at me?"  
  
Hermione studied Harry carefully, her brown eyes narrowing slightly, like they always did when she was deep in thought. Harry stared back at her. She is so pretty. I am so lucky that Hermione's my girlfriend. She's perfect. She's perfect for me. Nothing can tear us apart. I love her, Harry thought to himself fondly, as Hermione lifted her head slightly to look into Harry's eyes.  
  
" No, I don't believe he is," she finally said, slowly drawing the words out. " I think Ron's mad . but not at you, or me. I think he's mad at himself."  
  
" Mad at himself," Harry repeated. He raised an eyebrow. " Why would he be mad at himself?"  
  
Hermione shrugged her shoulders. " I don't know. He hasn't really been himself lately, has he? "  
  
" No," Harry agreed. " He's probably mad at me, though, that's why. I haven't been paying enough attention to him," he added after a second.  
  
Hermione shook her head. " You have too," she argued. " No, he's acting .. funny. I don't know how to explain it."  
  
" Well, try," Harry urged with a lopsided smile. Hermione rolled her eyes, but continued. " You and I have both seen Ron angry, when he's mad at us, or someone else. And how he's been acting lately . that's not how he acts when he's mad. It's like he's arguing with himself, inside his head."  
  
Harry shook his head in disbelief. Hermione sure had different ways at looking at things. It kind of made sense, but not really. Harry just nodded, then glanced out the window. Whatever Ron was mad at, he sure hoped he'd tell them soon. Hermione was definitely right about one thing, though; Ron wasn't acting like himself. Harry hoped Ron would get over his troubles soon, or come to them with his problems. He wanted his best friend back. 


End file.
